the backbone of america, the workers of america, they say stop the spending obsession. mr. speaker, the problem is spending. we got here by spending too much, not by taxing too little. we're going off the cliff with our pockets full of somebody else's money. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio, for five minutes. mr. defazio: all but those in total denial, and there is a lot of that inside the d.c. beltway, would admit we need a combination of increased revenues, taxes -- the gentleman before me disagrees -- and spending cuts to restore fiscal stability. but, you know, especially with a still weak economy, we don't need blanket tax increases that would hit hard at working families in the middle class, and we don't need brain dead across-the-board spending cuts to wasteful and unneeded programs and high functioning essential programs. we can do better. the american people deserve better. in that spirit, i offering the following ideas